Steps on the way to bee-keeping III, guest post by ajlr

 

There were three main things that we were warned about in working with bees at the hive –

a) make sure you're not wearing perfume of any kind, and that you don't smell sweaty, as bees don't like smells on people;

b) always move and speak quietly and gently, with no crashing or thumping when opening or working in the hive;

c) always work from the back (or side) of the hive* so that you don't have crowds of agitated and fretful bees piling up around you on their way to or from the entrance.

The three communities of bees that my fellow novices and I were going to look at on this day at our bee tutor's home would be having the year's first thorough post-winter check of their home (apart from the roof being lifted off on a few occasions to top up the sugar feeders). The bees themselves had been active on and off for a couple of weeks and had been observed previously coming out on cleansing flights** so our tutor knew that the colonies were in general good health. There were two full colonies, each in their own brood box, and one starter colony in a nucleus ('nuc') box. We began with the nuc and stood round at the sides and back, watching carefully as our tutor started by gently puffing a little smoke into the entrance, taking the top and the crown board off the brood area and placing them on the ground to one side after examining them closely for any signs of pests. At this stage we could see the half a dozen frames (a bit like sling files in a filing cabinet drawer) in the box with the bees on and more smoke was gently drifted across the top of the frames to keep the bees calm and move them away from the tops of the frames. (You can see/read a nice account of a first spring inspection here.) Our tutor gently lifted out the first frame, after loosening it a little first*** with the hive tool, reminding us while she did so about making sure to pull it slowly straight up to avoid squashing any bees and to return it the same way once the inspection was over.  Each of the frames was examined in turn, to check there were no diseases showing, that there was a good pattern# of pollen stores, honey, eggs being laid, worker brood and the beginnings of some drone brood, and also to try and find the queen. One definitely needs to develop a knack of doing this, as the spaces between the frames at the top where one grasps them at each end are quite small and – when looking at deep frames that may be fully loaded – they're also quite heavy. A single short frame in a super that's full of honey, for example, can weigh 3 lbs and that's quite a lot to hold steady and manipulate between the thumb and forefinger of each hand. All was well with the young colony in the nuc,  they didn't seem unduly agitated, and once the floor had been pulled out and examined to check if any Varroa  mites were visible, everything was closed up again and we moved on to the next one.

Us novices were now invited to take turns in performing all the various actions required in checking the two remaining hives we were focussing on and it was while I was standing to the side of the first of these, having just been puffing a little smoke into it, that I happened to glance down at my right hand, where I was holding the smoker – only to see 20+ worker bees quietly sitting on the back of my hand and wrist, humming little hums to themselves.  Some had obviously just come out of the hive while others were on their way back in with full pollen loads and had stopped off on my hand to see what was going on. Perhaps the yellow of my rubber gloves looked a nice friendly colour? I raised my hand slowly and looked at them, they looked (I think) back at me and we all decided that nothing was wrong and we could all continue to be cool about things. Very reassuring it was, all of us feeling the same way. :)

Once all the hives had each been carefully opened, the frames (there are usually 11 frames for a full colony) in the brood box examined individually, the box closed up again, and appropriate notes made on the hive record sheets for each that we'd carried down there – had the queen been seen, was she laying, how many frames of brood and food were there, were any queen cells seen, any pests, what temper were the bees in, and a few other things, it was time to walk quietly away and reflect on what we'd seen and done. And despite the number of things to remember (too many to write about here), the knack of doing things smoothly that one needs to acquire, the low-level worry about 'what if I suddenly upset them' and various other thoughts, I'm now so looking forward to getting our own bees to look after in a couple of weeks' time. It's just fascinating.

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* The proper siting of a hive, or hives, such that one has sufficient space to work round it, that the entrance is not facing out on to anywhere close that is frequented by people or animals^ but instead faces into a hedge or similar structure a few feet away so that they come out and then go up to get over it and fly away, and that if there is more than one hive they're facing very slightly different ways so that you don't get 'drifting' of bees from one hive to another, seems like a whole curriculum area in itself.

^ Bees are inquisitive and twitchy creatures.

** Bees are naturally clean and don't mess inside their hive. They will come out for a quick 'cleansing flight' on any days which are slightly warmer, throughout winter and early spring. They apparently zoom out, fly in an arc of around 10 – 12 feet from the hive, emptying themselves as they go, and dive back into the warmth of the hive again. We were warned not to stand near a hive on such a day – it apparently takes quite a lot of washing to get bee poo off garments…!

*** Bees stick things together with propolis in all sorts of small ways and one has to be careful to loosen things one at a time without any sudden cracks as something comes free. Bees tend to get tetchy about sudden vibrations and loud noises!

# On the frames in the brood box, a typical – and good – pattern will be of a central patch of brood, partially surrounded by an arc of pollen stores so that the nurse bees can feed easily, and then a further arc of honey stores. So the protein (pollen) and some honey (carbs) are both close at hand.